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Consumer Expectations to Reshape the Internet

Consumer expectations will reshape the needs and economics of the internet, according to the Cisco Broadband Survey based on a survey of consumers in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and South Africa).

79% of survey participants rank broadband as critical national infrastructure

People in EMEA are rethinking what they rely on the internet for, balancing classic demands for speed and reliability, with the intensifying needs of rising eco-consciousness, secure cloud infrastructure, and the consumerisation of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) connecting our devices, from smart cars to home appliances. This has led to 79% of survey participants ranking broadband as critical national infrastructure, escalating the need for the technology industry to respond to these asks and accelerate the journey towards a more sustainable, secure internet for the future.

The report shows more than 60% of consumers in EMEA expect to connect cars, appliances, energy and water to the internet, and broadband networks must scale to support this.

Increased dependence on broadband for everyday tasks, however, means that while speed is still the main priority for upgrades (40% of respondents), security is now a close second (38% of respondents).

Priority: Security

The emergence of hybrid work and the ever-increasing blur between the professional and personal lives of employees brings new risks into the home. Despite most consumers using their broadband for tasks like banking and work, passwords are still the most popular way (53%) that survey respondents protect home networks and devices; only a quarter have switched on their router's firewall. This is despite previous Cisco research revealing that 57% of consumers worry about cybercriminals hacking their devices.

Priority: IOT

As the number of IoT devices online grows from billions to trillions, so does the demand for bandwidth and processing power to analyse all the data produced.

According to the survey, there's no sign of this slowing down. Consumers are instead embracing the shift toward a smarter digital life. A majority already have, or expect to have, their cars (67%), lights (74%), appliances (71%), energy (76%) and water (64%) connected.

More than half of consumers surveyed (54%) indicated feeling positive about new ways to connect their homes and lives to the internet. This is despite a majority (63%) saying that the cost-of-living crisis has changed the way they spend money on digital services: 21% have reported moving to a lower cost broadband package and 16% have cancelled streaming services.

"The old technology adage of 'faster, cheaper, better' has not been relevant for a long time. It's now about simplifying solutions and building networks that can fuel global connectivity and economic growth, facilitating and protecting the digitalization and automation of everyday activities, all without losing sight of our impact on the future," said Gordon Thomson, Vice President Service Provider — EMEA, Cisco.

Priority: Sustainability

Sustainability is also a key driver of consumer choice with 77% of respondents willing to pay more for broadband with a lower carbon footprint.

The carbon-cost of broadband connectivity is a top priority for consumers. The survey revealed that 65% of consumers in EMEA are now concerned about the carbon footprint of their broadband, with young people aged 18-24 the most concerned (73%).

In addition, 77% said they would be willing to pay more for sustainable broadband, with around a quarter prepared to pay a price premium of more than 20%. This supports a wider market trend, shown in a 2019 survey by Nielsen and a 2022 survey by Globescan, revealing widespread consumer awareness around the environmental impact of the products they use and a demand for companies to step up and mitigate negative impacts on the planet.

Methodology: The Cisco Broadband Survey is based on a survey of 21,629 workers across 12 countries: UK, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Poland, Spain, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, UAE and the Netherlands. It was completed during January and February 2023. The sample included respondents based in every region of each country, who either work full-time remotely; full-time in an office; hybrid, between home and the office; or on the frontline. The poll was conducted by independent research consultancy Censuswide, who abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society — which is based on the ESOMAR principles.

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Consumer Expectations to Reshape the Internet

Consumer expectations will reshape the needs and economics of the internet, according to the Cisco Broadband Survey based on a survey of consumers in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and South Africa).

79% of survey participants rank broadband as critical national infrastructure

People in EMEA are rethinking what they rely on the internet for, balancing classic demands for speed and reliability, with the intensifying needs of rising eco-consciousness, secure cloud infrastructure, and the consumerisation of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) connecting our devices, from smart cars to home appliances. This has led to 79% of survey participants ranking broadband as critical national infrastructure, escalating the need for the technology industry to respond to these asks and accelerate the journey towards a more sustainable, secure internet for the future.

The report shows more than 60% of consumers in EMEA expect to connect cars, appliances, energy and water to the internet, and broadband networks must scale to support this.

Increased dependence on broadband for everyday tasks, however, means that while speed is still the main priority for upgrades (40% of respondents), security is now a close second (38% of respondents).

Priority: Security

The emergence of hybrid work and the ever-increasing blur between the professional and personal lives of employees brings new risks into the home. Despite most consumers using their broadband for tasks like banking and work, passwords are still the most popular way (53%) that survey respondents protect home networks and devices; only a quarter have switched on their router's firewall. This is despite previous Cisco research revealing that 57% of consumers worry about cybercriminals hacking their devices.

Priority: IOT

As the number of IoT devices online grows from billions to trillions, so does the demand for bandwidth and processing power to analyse all the data produced.

According to the survey, there's no sign of this slowing down. Consumers are instead embracing the shift toward a smarter digital life. A majority already have, or expect to have, their cars (67%), lights (74%), appliances (71%), energy (76%) and water (64%) connected.

More than half of consumers surveyed (54%) indicated feeling positive about new ways to connect their homes and lives to the internet. This is despite a majority (63%) saying that the cost-of-living crisis has changed the way they spend money on digital services: 21% have reported moving to a lower cost broadband package and 16% have cancelled streaming services.

"The old technology adage of 'faster, cheaper, better' has not been relevant for a long time. It's now about simplifying solutions and building networks that can fuel global connectivity and economic growth, facilitating and protecting the digitalization and automation of everyday activities, all without losing sight of our impact on the future," said Gordon Thomson, Vice President Service Provider — EMEA, Cisco.

Priority: Sustainability

Sustainability is also a key driver of consumer choice with 77% of respondents willing to pay more for broadband with a lower carbon footprint.

The carbon-cost of broadband connectivity is a top priority for consumers. The survey revealed that 65% of consumers in EMEA are now concerned about the carbon footprint of their broadband, with young people aged 18-24 the most concerned (73%).

In addition, 77% said they would be willing to pay more for sustainable broadband, with around a quarter prepared to pay a price premium of more than 20%. This supports a wider market trend, shown in a 2019 survey by Nielsen and a 2022 survey by Globescan, revealing widespread consumer awareness around the environmental impact of the products they use and a demand for companies to step up and mitigate negative impacts on the planet.

Methodology: The Cisco Broadband Survey is based on a survey of 21,629 workers across 12 countries: UK, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Poland, Spain, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, UAE and the Netherlands. It was completed during January and February 2023. The sample included respondents based in every region of each country, who either work full-time remotely; full-time in an office; hybrid, between home and the office; or on the frontline. The poll was conducted by independent research consultancy Censuswide, who abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society — which is based on the ESOMAR principles.

Hot Topics

The Latest

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 14, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud network observability... 

While companies adopt AI at a record pace, they also face the challenge of finding a smart and scalable way to manage its rapidly growing costs. This requires balancing the massive possibilities inherent in AI with the need to control cloud costs, aim for long-term profitability and optimize spending ...

Telecommunications is expanding at an unprecedented pace ... But progress brings complexity. As WanAware's 2025 Telecom Observability Benchmark Report reveals, many operators are discovering that modernization requires more than physical build outs and CapEx — it also demands the tools and insights to manage, secure, and optimize this fast-growing infrastructure in real time ...

As businesses increasingly rely on high-performance applications to deliver seamless user experiences, the demand for fast, reliable, and scalable data storage systems has never been greater. Redis — an open-source, in-memory data structure store — has emerged as a popular choice for use cases ranging from caching to real-time analytics. But with great performance comes the need for vigilant monitoring ...

Kubernetes was not initially designed with AI's vast resource variability in mind, and the rapid rise of AI has exposed Kubernetes limitations, particularly when it comes to cost and resource efficiency. Indeed, AI workloads differ from traditional applications in that they require a staggering amount and variety of compute resources, and their consumption is far less consistent than traditional workloads ... Considering the speed of AI innovation, teams cannot afford to be bogged down by these constant infrastructure concerns. A solution is needed ...

AI is the catalyst for significant investment in data teams as enterprises require higher-quality data to power their AI applications, according to the State of Analytics Engineering Report from dbt Labs ...

Misaligned architecture can lead to business consequences, with 93% of respondents reporting negative outcomes such as service disruptions, high operational costs and security challenges ...

A Gartner analyst recently suggested that GenAI tools could create 25% time savings for network operational teams. Where might these time savings come from? How are GenAI tools helping NetOps teams today, and what other tasks might they take on in the future as models continue improving? In general, these savings come from automating or streamlining manual NetOps tasks ...

IT and line-of-business teams are increasingly aligned in their efforts to close the data gap and drive greater collaboration to alleviate IT bottlenecks and offload growing demands on IT teams, according to The 2025 Automation Benchmark Report: Insights from IT Leaders on Enterprise Automation & the Future of AI-Driven Businesses from Jitterbit ...

A large majority (86%) of data management and AI decision makers cite protecting data privacy as a top concern, with 76% of respondents citing ROI on data privacy and AI initiatives across their organization, according to a new Harris Poll from Collibra ...